Our Honest Thoughts on the Snoo

Benny is just about 11 weeks old, and we are ready to share our honest thoughts on the Snoo. By no means do we regret renting it, but we packed it up to return this weekend. I’ll explain why in this post.

What is the Snoo?

The Snoo is a bassinet that claims to be the safest bassinet ever made. Through motion-censored technology, the Snoo monitors and adjusts to baby’s needs. The Snoo works with a specific swaddle that clips directly into it. While clipped in, baby is safely kept from rolling or moving about in the bassinet. It has a built-in white noise machine and various motion intensities. As baby stirs and cries, the Snoo responds by increasing the intensity of the noise and motion. In addition to claiming to be the “safest bassinet” ever made, the Snoo also claims to help your baby sleep longer and more proficiently. The Snoo connects directly to an app that controls the motion and tracks your baby’s sleep. Back in the fall, after doing some research and talking with a few friends, we felt that the Snoo was the best option for us. We had very high hopes.

A Rough Patch

About three weeks ago, Benny’s nighttime sleep went from decent three to four hour stretches in the Snoo back to one to two hour stretches. His nap situation was nothing short of abysmal as he averaged about ninety minutes of daytime sleep most days broken up into quick 10-20 minute increments. So, we kept at it with the Snoo thinking maybe Benny was going through a developmental leap or something.

Our Current Sleep Situation

Fast forward ten days, and we had just started working with Meg from A Restful Night. She got us rethinking our sleep situation. Benny is 22 inches long and about 12lbs. That puts him right around average size for his age. That being said, we started to feel like Benny was outgrowing the Snoo. His size, coupled with the fact that he is showing signs or rolling lead us to want to switch things up a bit. There is an option to have ‘arms out’ while in the Snoo, and we tried that for a few nights. It made no difference. Our poor guy just couldn’t seem to get comfortable again in the Snoo.

So, Meg had us order a Magic Merlin Suit and start placing Benny in his crib for naps. The very first nap Benny had in his crib was longer. Watching him happily flail his limbs on the monitor made us realize it was the right decision. After just a few days, he started taking longer, more consistent naps. While his naps are far from perfect, Benny is averaging more daytime sleep in his crib using the Magic Merlin Suit. Our next step is to transition Benny to his crib for nighttime sleep in the coming days. Our pediatrician is fine with us moving Benny into his room, and we feel comfortable having him sleep there soon. For now, he is sleeping in his Pack n’ Play in our bedroom.

Would we rent the Snoo again?

Although the response may sound shocking- 100% yes.

I think many parents have a misconception that the reason to get the Snoo is so that baby will sleep longer. Sure, the idea of having the Snoo “soothe” your baby is appealing. However, given Benny’s young age, we never really let the Snoo soothe him as we picked him up as soon as he cried. I would be lying if I said we weren’t hopeful Benny would sleep longer if we got the Snoo. We decided to get it for the safety aspect. We were very anxious first-time parents, and I rested (a little bit) easier in those first weeks home knowing that Benny was safely strapped into his Snoo. My logical brain said, “There are many safe bassinets without all the bells and whistles.” Yet, my emotional, nervous, new-parent brain said, “Snoo is it.” It did the job in terms of easing our anxiousness. We felt safe in those first weeks home with Benny.

I’m in a Facebook group for parents who have the Snoo. I will say that most of the thousands of parents posting in there have children who are sleeping 6, 7, or 8 hour stretches at just a few weeks old. So perhaps we’re in the minority in that we can’t rave about the Snoo’s ability to help Benny sleep longer. It has been quite the opposite actually. Getting him out of the Snoo is what is helping him get longer stretches of sleep.

Should you get the Snoo?

Maybe.

I would advise against buying the Snoo. Unless you are going to have three children who all use the Snoo for five or six months, it doesn’t make the most financial-sense. Plus, it is huge! Storing the Snoo takes up a lot of extra space. Renting it was a great option for us. Additionally, I would recommend registering for Happiest Baby gift cards. You can use the gift cards to pay the rental fees, which is awesome.

After an extensive amount of time reading about the Snoo, I was confident we needed it for Benny. If you are someone who is an extremely anxious parent- like yours truly- I wouldn’t advise against the Snoo. The logical side of my brain new Benny was incapable of rolling over at just a few days old while swaddled. However, my mind went to some crazy places worrying. In hindsight, perhaps our money would have been better spent on a simple bassinet and a few sessions asking all our crazy questions to a sleep consultant.